Behind the Scenes - Bond with Felix Leiter in a Whyte House hotel room

I thought it would be fun to imagine what might've happened on set at Pinewood Studios if someone had a 35mm studio camera and filmed the various coverage of shots for a scene. So here in the process of animating another scene, I have stitched together a couple of minutes footage of what that may have looked like.

I added a clapperboard at the start, some dirt/grain with dust and scratches to make it look like it was perhaps discovered in some dusty storeroom many years later!

I especially like how the camera lingers a little bit longer and the actors interact with the camera-man before the footage cuts.

Update #1 on (mostly) completed animated scenes

While it will take a long time before I have recruited all the voice actors neccessary for this project, I have nonetheless been animating a couple of sequences using Moviestorm's synthesised voices as a placeholder for the real voices.

Whenever I've completed some key scenes, I will post a screenshot or two for each 'fully' animated scene to give readers an idea of what they're about. Like so:

This sequence takes place in Bond's Hotel Room, which was
 originally meant to be in the Tropicana Hotel but has moved to the
Whyte House. It occurs after Bond has met Plenty O'Toole.

As you may have guessed, this is an interior shot of Tiffany
Case's Ford Mustang Mach 1. Naturally, this sequence occurs
right before the famous chase through the streets of Las Vegas.

It's the Bridal Suite! This magnificient set was only seen in two
 scenes from the original film, but this sequence in particular is an
extended version of the scene when Felix visits "Mr and Mrs Jones"
 to inform them the C.I.A hasn't got permission to raid
Willard Whyte's Penthouse.

Though not one of Ken Adam's most impressive sets, I found
 re-creating the interior of the Oil Rig control room to be somewhat
 of a challenge. The corrugated metal walls could not be replicated
 100% in Moviestorm, so I resorted to placing textures over the walls.
 Anywho, this is an altered version of the sequence that serves as
an introduction to Blofeld's Oil Rig in Baja California.

Showcase of completed extras (background characters) for animated sequences!

Even in animation you sometimes need extras. Goons, guards, henchmen, armies, civilians in a crowd or even restaurant staff. So I've compiled some screenshots into a video showing off the main groups of extras I will be using in DAF Reimagined.

I may have to recycle some or fill up scenes with more than the ones you see here, but the end result aught to look convincing.

A look at the various James Bond character models to be used in the animated scenes

Naturally, the most important animated character model to get right for this production was that of Sean Connery as James Bond. I'm very pleased with how he turned out, as I was able to get a pretty convincing likeness of Connery as he appeared in DAF, even if the hairpiece doesn't match with what he had in the film.

Connery as he appears in
Diamonds Are Forever

A render of Connery in the Moviestorm animation software
for the "Diamonds Re-Imagined" project

To demonstrate how many character models I've made so far of Bond in his different suits and outfits for the project's animated scenes, here is a video showcasing them.

First look at key characters in "promotional stills"

Many of the main character models to be used within the project's animated scenes have been completed! Here is a quick look at how they all look, including Sean Connery's Bond, Tiffany Case, etc...

I've done my best to get the character models as close as possible to the likenesses of the respective actors/actresses (though Blofeld obviously looks nothing like Charles Gray since I'm using the likeness of Telly Savalas instead with some traits of Donald Pleasance's Blofeld such as the scar).

Unfortunately, the models for Tiffany Case and Plenty O'Toole proved to be somewhat of a challenge. It was impossible to exactly replicate Jill St John and Lana Wood's hair accurately so I compromised with the hair style seen in the video.

Update #2 on 3D sets constructed for animated sections

A couple more sets have been completed - bear in mind, many of the images in this video showcasing the sets are of incomplete sets or ones that may be slightly altered for the final version of the fan-edit. Some character models have also not been created that will go in the final version of the scenes.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this sneak-peek!

Update #1 on 3D sets constructed for animated sections

Here is a brief look at some of the many sets I have built for DAF Re-imagined. Some of them you may recognise from the original film, others you probably won't. 

Oh, and just to clarify; the software I'm using for the animated scenes is called Moviestorm.
Enjoy!

About DAF Reimagined

Greetings, I am the RetroCaptain. This blog exists to detail the development of this gigantic project; Diamonds Are Forever Reimagined.

What is it exactly? Well to put it simply, it's an ambitious fan-edit of the classic James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (1971) which starred Sean Connery as 007. As far as I am aware the film has never been considered one of the best entries of the series, mainly due to its camp tone and strange silliness displayed in the script

Yet I've always thought it had its strengths. Namely the witty dialogue that I'm sure plenty of fans can remember. For example:

BOND: (To a rat in a pipeline) "One of us smells like a tart's hankerchief." (Smells his lapel) "I'm afraid it's me. Sorry about that old boy."

Even so, the film also comes across as a missed opportunity sometimes. Before George Lazenby quit the role, the film was originally scripted as a revenge thriller set after On Her Majesty's Secret Service. This would've finally given us a true finale to the "Blofeld Trilogy" for the film series just like the Ian Fleming novels had with You Only Live Twice.

And that's why I felt this film deserved a second chance via this project. I'll not only edit existing parts of the film to improve flawed aspects (such as removing the infamous Blofeld in drag scene!) but also use animation software to create brand new sequences that will help make this the sequel to OHMSS that we never got.

A character model for Sean Connery's Bond, wearing the black 
and burgundy dinner jacket seen in the original film.

I've been building 3D sets, creating character models and of course have written a script to achieve all of this, since 2018. So stay tuned for updates, which I'll post whenever I've completed something important for the project. Until then, ciao!